Starting the descent off the summit of Jebel Khazali, Wadi Rum, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Ever see a photograph of a place that then becomes an obsession?

I saw a photograph of the Bugaboos about 30 yeas ago, and I knew that I would never be happy until I climbed there. Well, I am pleased to say that I will die a happy man.

Happy, that is, until a few years ago. Then I saw a photograph of the sandstone towers of the Wadi Rum in Jordan's desert. The obsession started all over again. Mind you, I'm 30 years older now, my shoulders pop out of their sockets if I sneeze hard (old injuries from an extreme skiing crash), and bilateral shoulder operations haven't helped much. So my rock-climbing days have long been over.

How did I get into this predicament?

Well, I figured that I would just go scrambling. I can sill do that, can't I? So I hired a Bedouin guide from Wadi Rum Mountain Guides for 3 days of scrambling and I flew to Jordan.

What I got was more than what I bargained for. Apparently the Bedouin bagged most of the first ascents in the area by scrambling to the summits of these peaks. Westerners like me would say that the correct description is not scrambling, but rather that the Bedouin have been free-soloing to 5.7 on these peaks.

So what I got was a an easy scrambling ascent of the mountain Jebel Khazali (i.e., free-soloing to 5.2 and roped climbing).

Generally, there are two kinds of sandstone in the Wadi Rum: (1) a purple Um Sahn sandstone and (2) white Rum sandstone. The Um Sahm sandstone is very soft and friable, has lots of handholds (like limestone) and forms massive walls. The white Rum sandstone forms large, gritty slabs and domes with relatively few holds.

Temperatures in March:
95 degrees F during the day
40 degrees F at night

Jordan has a tourism-based economy and no oil. They don't have a beef with anyone, and they take their tourism seriously. Everywhere we went people smiled broadly and shouted, "Welcome to Jordan!" One of my taxi drivers found out that I was American and insisted that he take me out to dinner. "I know a place that serves the best chicken tikka in Jordan," he said. (He was right!) The Jordanians and Bedouins are some of the nicest and most generous people I have ever met. Yes, Jordan is very safe for tourists. I am already planning a return trip in one year, this time for 2 weeks! And I'll be carrying a rope & rack!

Pictures say it all better than words, so 'nuff talking.

A wonderful panorama of the Jebel um Ishrin massif in the Wadi Rum. Most of the big towers have 800 meters of vertical relief.

Even the "flat" summit plateau requires a lot of climbing up and down.

The old stomping grounds of Lawrence of Arabia

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

C'est moi, on the summit.

Summit of Jebel Khazali, 2012
Wadi Rum, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Miles of rock, with very few routes.

Looking out towards Jebel Qabr Amra

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Sitting in the shade, taking a rest from the down-climbing. It was 95 degrees with sustained class 3-4 down-climbing with some roped down-climbing and a total of 5 rappels.

Taking a rest in the shade (it was 95 degrees F) and contemplating the next section of down-climbing

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

The last of 5 rappels.

The last of 5 rappels to descend off Jebel Khazali, Wadi Rum, Jordan
Gotta love rapping off spooky sandstone anchors!

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Other photos from the Wadi Rum to get you drooling:

The big walls of the SE Face of Jebel Al Qattar

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Do you like expansive vistas? The rock structure in the lower right is Lawrence's House.

Lawrence of Arabia's House, Wadi Rum, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Barrah Canyon is a popular hiking and climbing area.

Wadi Rum, Jordan.

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Unclimbed!

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Wadi Rum, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Hiking in Barrah Canyon.

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Lunch, Bedouin style. Some flat bread is the only other thing you need! Those are the rock-climbing shoes of my bedouin guide!!

Wadi Rum, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Scrambling on the North Ridge of Jebel Burdah.

Scrambling on North Ridge of Jebel Burdah

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Wadi Rum.

Wadi Rum, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Awesome climbing on this stuff.

Wadi Rum, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

The final scramble up to the Burdah Arch.

Scrambling (5.2) up to Burdah Arch on the North Ridge of Jebel Burdah, Wadi Rum, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Be prepared to "4th class" some steep terrain in the Wadi Rum.

Starting down some easy class 5 free-solo down climbing
That ravine is only about 400 feet deep

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Some of the smaller towers of the Wadi Rum.

Towers, Wadi Rum, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

For you geology fans, here is a funky blue contact rock (presumably a marine sediment like everything else) that is sandwiched between the granite basement rocks and the sandstone. What is it? It almost looks like marble but it's way too hard. Obviously some baked metamorphic rock, but what?

Wadi Rum, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Enjoying some sage & cinnamon tea in a Bedouin tent out in the desert.

Great report. I still kick myself for not going there when I was in Jordan about 15 yrs. ago. I was actually in the south, at Petra, with a buddy who would have been game, and we were heading south anyways to Aqaba, and it just never happened. Still don't know why. At least I got to snorkel at the Blue Hole and hike up Mt. Sinai. Not bad consolation I suppose.

Still, I think I'll have to watch Lawrence of Arabia this weekend and ponder when I'll get back.

But did you crop your camel yelling "Haat haat haat" and then yell, "No prisoners!"

Good point about the women Coz.
In fact in the movie Lawrence Of Arabia the only "line" uttered by a woman during the whole three and a half hour film was the high pitched guttural shrilling as Lawrence's entourage exited Wadi Rum to ride across the Nefud.

Actually "wadi" is what we call an "arroyo" in the SW, or a "wash" or a dry stream bed.

"Rum" is a local village, an imperfect phonetic translation from Arabic to English, also spelled "Ram" or "Raam."

The only local drink is "Bedouin whiskey" - a very sweet tea made from a lot of sugar, sage, cinnamon, mint and black tea. No one drinks alcohol there.

The people were amazing, except for the way they treat their women...

Perhaps that was 16 years ago, how was (is) American treating Blacks nowadays?

I also spent a week at Jordan's largest university; women make up two-thirds of the student population. About 1/3 of the women I saw there were dressed very fashionably in Western-style clothes. I counted less than a dozen burquas in 2 weeks in the whole country.

The desert wilderness of Jordan is incredible. I would love to go and adventure there. TFPU

Sure enough someone up stream already mentioned it . . .

Jesus's 40 days of temptation in the wilderness was more than likely into this region of Jordan.

Also Jesus says that in the last days when the "Abomination of Desolation" in the temple in Jerusalem occurs, to flee to the wilderness of Jordan where believers will be protected and cared for until Christ's imminent return.

I was in Wadi Rum and Petra a few months ago, no climbing though. I was told that it was far less crowded than normal because of the Euro crisis and the Arab Spring and so we had most of the tourist places to ourselves. It's probably still a great time to go this year.

The Rum village "Rest House", recommended extensively in the old Tony Howard guidebook, sells cold beer. That's its only redeeming feature: their campsite is garbage-strewn, toilets grim, showers sketchy and their food made my partner on my last trip sick. Hopefully some day soon someone will set up something better. But you can always camp in the desert.

To be honest, both places look really rad. I think you could hit one or other without substantial regret, but if you had limited time, Petra is probably the easier of the two to hit. Still, I'm still kicking myself that I missed Wadi Rum...

Visas are required can be purchased for $10 at the Amman airport on arrival in Amman, best way to do it.

An old Roman forum in downtown Amman, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

A couple of our Jordanian hosts in Amman, taking us on tours of ancient ruins around the region.

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

The Amman international airport is 30 km south of the capital city of Amman. A good airport hotel is the Golden Tulip Amman, 4 stars. The hotel serves beer and wine, but just forget about alcohol for the duration.

The border between Jordan and Israel is always open, so many people enter Jordan via Israel. My Chinese friends tell me that their return into Israel was unfriendly, antagonistic, and quite frightening. (I guess they didn't like having Israeli soldiers pointing machine guns at them during the process of passport and visa checks.)

The Wadi Rum and Rum village are 4 hours south of the Amman international airport. That's 4 hours of freeway driving. There is apparently an inexpensive bus that takes you to within a few miles of Rum village (to the town of Quweira), and you can catch a taxi for the final ~ 10 miles to Rum. But I made arrangements with my climbing guide to have a cab driver pick me up at the Amman airport and transport me to Rum (4 hours, $120).

The Wadi Rum is located near the place where Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea all come together.

The cab driver dropped me off at midnight at the home of my climbing guide in Rum. I spent the night sleeping on the floor in his living room. He served me a Continental breakfast in the morning.

Having breakfast with my climbing guide

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

When you wake up in Rum, this is what you wake up to

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

There is a climber's lodge in Rum, but I never got a chance to see it. Apparently there are western-style toilets and showers there. It is cheap. Many people travel 30 km to the Red Sea port of Aqaba for groceries. You will need a cab to take you there. If you're a scuba diver, bring your dive gear!

I stayed in Bedouin camps in the desert. The cost was $60 per day for a private scrambling guide, 4WD vehicle tours, water, 3 meals a day and camping in Bedouin tents. I didn't get a shower for 5 days, until I returned to a hotel in Amman. The only water is bottled water. I was drinking about 8 liters per day.

More serious guided technical climbing, beyond the typical class 5.2 to 5.6 free-soloing and occasional belay, will cost you more like $120 per day. Some of the guides were trained in Chamonix and are very good. Most of the Bedouin, however, just grew up free-soloing traditional routes in the Wadi Rum.

Traditional Bedouin routes weave in-and-out and up-and-down through these domes, slabs and faces. The class 5 sections are short and sweet. You will free-solo the easy class 5 stuff, but can get a top rope for the mid-class 5 stuff.

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

One of my Bedouin climbing guides, high on the north ridge of Jebel Burdah (II, 5.2)

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Only the local Bedouin can drive in the Wadi Rum. So:

(a) you will need to hire a guide to drive you to your climbs, or
(b) walk to and from your climbs (hiking in sand), or
(c) limit your excursion to the area near the village of Rum (which is what most people do, and which is where most of the rock routes are located)

Main street in Rum, looking due south out into the desert. The big bulky peak on the left is Jebel Khazali, which the mountain that I climbed.

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

The weather in the Rum is quite variable. The winter is freezing cold with rain. Dangerous flash floods and waterfalls are killers on some of the faces and in the slot canyons (slot canyons are called "siqs").

The summer is 130+ degrees and unbearable from a climbing perspective.

I went at the ideal time, around the 1st of March. It was about 95 degrees during the day and 38 degrees at night with minimal rain. We had a cold snap with a few days rain and snow while I was there. Look at the historical weather charts for the area.

Bolting is not accepted in the Wadi Rum. There are some bolt anchors at rap stations on popular routes, though. They don't look like bolts, more like rebar with an eyelet set in epoxy.

The summit plateaus are often a maze of domes of white Rum sandstone, separated by deep slot canyons 100 to 500 feet deep.

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

Security is a concern in northern Jordan. The Jordanians are great people, it's their neighbors who you have to worry about. The Jordanians are extremely friendly, generous and tolerate people. You are safer in Jordan than you are in most major American cities.

We did a lot of caving in northern Jordan, along the Iraq/Syrian border. So we hired armed guards to watch over us. Like I said... It's the neighbors who are the problem.

As to an earlier post, I see no need to make it an either or, when it comes to Petra and Wadi Rum. Both are fantastic. Have you been in Petra? I think you'd love it. The rock is... well, different. Don't know what it is, but it's colourful.

I watched the movie Lawrence of Arabia last night, starring Peter O'Toole. The movie was filmed in the Wadi Rum, primarily in the large sandy valley shown here. The peak on the far left is a common backdrop to scenes in the movie.

Starting the descent off the summit of Jebel Khazali, Wadi Rum, Jordan

Credit: Sierra Ledge Rat

On the right side of this photo is the ruins of the home of Lawrence of Arabia.

Most of the easy scrambling is very exposed and this is true especially on the descent. I really enjoyed the trip up to Jebel Rum. It’s were much like climbing a long alpine route except for the snow. The route is highly recommended!

My best friend's mother and father spent 10 years living in Jordan (not climbing, he ran the 727 maintenance program for Alia, the Royal Jordanian Airline).
Even though she was required to have a driver (women could not drive in Jordan back in the 80's), the driver became her best friend and she always raved about and loved the Jordanian people and their culture.

History buffs should read Seven Pillars of Wisdom by Lawrence. Excellent book.
For the bigger picture read Lawrence of Arabia's war.
Lawrence invented modern guerrilla warfare. He showed how a few hundred fighters could keep thousands of the enemy stationary guarding towns and railway junctions allowing the regular Allied forces, mainly Brits and Aussies to win.
As an aside the huge flu outbreak after the war that killed millions of people may have incubated in the German/Turkish POW camps of 1918/1919

Thanks for taking the time to share your excellent adventure with us!
Petra is still at the top of my list but now it looks like I need to make a longer trip of it.
Hauntingly beautiful part of the world and I am so glad that the natives aren't restless. I hope it stays that way.

An amazing place – can’t say enough good things about it. We’ve done 2 trips there (’12 and ’16). If you want some logistical details (not a difficult place to do a trip to), I’ve tried to summarize some stuff here: http://chossclimbers.com/testing/jordan-2/
The absolutely stunning Haj.

Orange Sunshine:

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